What’s the difference between an average desk setup and a full-fledged battlestation? We believe it’s all about having the right gaming desk accessories and combining them tastefully. Our list includes functional accessories, decor, wall lighting, and more. Let’s go over what items you can add to your gaming setup to take it to the next level.

1. Cable Management Tray

Managing cable clutter is key to having an attractive gaming setup. This can be hard to accomplish if your desk doesn’t have any cable management features. But thankfully, they’re easy to add.

Install an inexpensive cable management channel to the underside of your desk and route your wires through. When done carefully with the help of some cable ties, it could look something like this:

Think that looks nice? Read our in-depth guide on desk cable management to learn all about this process.

2. Cable Management Box

Another easy cable management win is hiding your power strip. Especially if you have a lot of electronics plugged in, your power strip can look like a rat’s nest of wires and plugs. Placing it in a sleek wooden box will instantly make it look better.

Once your cords are tucked neatly out of the way, you’ll open up room for more exciting gaming desk accessories.

3. Monitor Arm

Are you still using the stands that came with your monitors? Replacing them with a desk mount clears up room, is more ergonomically friendly, and looks neater. Best of all, they’re a breeze to install. We like the Ergotron LX for single monitor setups and Eletab for dual monitors.

Can’t mount to your desk? Read our article on the best dual monitor stands and best triple monitor stands to learn more about different types of monitor mounts.

4. Monitor Backlights

Bias lighting, or lights placed behind your screen to illuminate the wall behind it, reduces eye strain and adds ambient lighting to your desk setup. We like the versatile Philips Hue Play light bars for this purpose and especially enjoy its light sync feature.

Source: Voltcave

Whether you’re gaming or watching videos, the Play light bars can sync with the colors of your screen to enhance the experience. They are expensive though so if you don’t mind static light colors, inexpensive LED strips can also do the job.

5. Wall Light Panels

Moving away from the subtlety of the backlights we mentioned above, you can add wall lights that serve as both mood lighting and eye-catching art. The Nanoleaf Aurora light panels are popular for their unique geometric shapes and infinite customizability.

Each triangle can be positioned to your liking and the included software suite also allows syncing with audio and smart devices for an awesome media experience. There’s no shortage of popular gaming setup images rocking these smart lights.

If Nanoleafs are outside of your price range, we have a whole list of gaming wall lights for you to check out.

6. Cool Desk Lamp

If you don’t want to install lights behind your monitors but still want the perks of backlighting, you can also just point a desk lamp toward your wall for a comparable effect. The Tomons Swing Lamp is an attractive option that looks good with most desk aesthetics.

7. Desk LED Strip

Install an LED strip to the back edge of your desk to further elevate your ambient lighting game. Its effect may look subtle but its impact can be clearly felt. It’s hard to overstate how awesome a simple LED strip can be when done right.

8. RGB Headphone Stand

If you’re a headset gamer, add a place to hang your headset instead of leaving them flat on your desk. A headphone stand looks neater and helps protect your fancy headphones at the same time. There are plenty of options in different price ranges and form factors, including classy wooden designs, ones with RGB lighting, and simple under-desk hooks.

Check out our article on the best headphone stands for more options.

9. Mini Potted Plants (Real or Fake)

Plants make your setup look more professional and lively. If you’re worried about maintenance or attracting bugs, you can always opt for a fake plant that won’t have any of those problems. You can add as little or as much greenery as you want and you’ll likely end up with a gaming setup that looks a bit more classy than it did before.

10. Extra-Large Mousepad

Extra-large mousepads generally look nicer than smaller ones for a few reasons. For one, it allows for a more symmetrical look on your desktop. Secondly, it can also serve as another place to display a large design that fits perfectly with the theme of your setup.

Even if you opt for a plain black extra-large mousepad, it can serve as a nice contrast to attract extra attention to your fancy keyboard and mouse. When it comes to mousepads, bigger really is better.

11. Small Figurines

Add some personality to your desk setup with a figurine of your favorite video game or cartoon character. We’ve seen Gundam heads, Funko Pops, BB-8s, and more blend perfectly into gaming desk setups. We’re sure there’s a character that’d look great on yours.

12. Wall Art

You’ll find that most impressive gaming setups combine a little bit of everything we’ve mentioned so far into a cohesive theme. Add some prints from your favorite artists or a custom Pantone color swatch that matches your setup.

13. Floating Shelf

Another option to make use of the wall real estate behind your desk setup is by adding a floating shelf. You can use this space to add more action figures and models that you love. Or in the case of the image below, a giant Lego rocket.

14. Custom GPU Backplate

Although this article is about gaming desk accessories, it’s also important to address your gaming rig. If your gaming PC sits proudly on top of your desk, you need to make sure it’s also helping to accentuate your theme. For an easy add-on that makes a big difference, consider purchasing a custom GPU backplate.

GPU backplates have a number of functional benefits including protection and extra rigidity if you purchase the right type, but they’re mainly a large surface area you can customize with an awesome design. We like V1 Tech’s selection of artwork and their fully-custom option.

Read our guide dedicated to gaming PC accessories for more fun PC add-ons.

Finally, the Fun Part

We can only show you what gaming desk accessories to buy. You need to figure out how to combine them tastefully into your own beautiful creation. For more ideas and inspiration, explore the internet’s best gaming setups in our homepage gallery and check back with us regularly.

Good luck!